Using everyday objects to inflict harm – Bent Nails

Gartlmühle,_Gresten_04_-_rusty_nailAs we saw last week, not every trap is deliberate. On the flip side, deliberate traps can be hidden in plain sight as ordinary objects.

 

Bent Nails

The corridors here are tight and irregularly shaped.

Type: mechanical; Perception DC 22; Disable Device 19

Trigger location; Reset Auto

Effect

The walls of the corridors have several bent and rusted nails sticking out of the walls. If noticed, a character can make a DC 15 Acrobatics check for each move action to avoid being cut by the nails. Otherwise, they must make Reflex Saves. Bent Nails(DC 16 Reflex Save each move action or take 1 point of damage, and make a DC 12 Fortitude Save or take 1 Dex Damage); multiple targets (all targets walking down corridor)

This one has nails sticking out of the wall that can cause ability loss. If the characters initially do not notice these nails, and then get, for lack of a better word, nailed by this trap, they will spend a little more time noticing the fine details of your dungeon that you spent so much time preparing.

It can also make for some great deterrents. That old bridge that crosses a stream no longer becomes a simple DC 5 Acrobatics check for the characters. It could become a full-fledged production as the characters go out of their way to devise a plan to cross the bridge without actually touching anything.

Like many of these traps, using one or two of these can focus players on details. You can later use these details to your advantage as you can hide clues or other story elements in your setting, confident that the players will find them.

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